Our cruising reference calls this bay either Naigoro Bay or Matawalevu, but the only name I see on the Navionics chart is Naisogonikino. So, your guess at the actual name of the bay is as good as mine. After entering the pass, getting into the bay was straightforward, since all the reefs were marked. However, we find that sometimes the markers are not actually at the edge of the reef, so it’s best not to get too close, and even better to move around with good visibility so you can see the edges yourself. The chart shows an anchor icon on the south side of the bay, but there were already three or four boats there when we pulled up. We circled the small anchorage a couple of times, but it was a deep anchorage, and we couldn’t find a good spot with enough swing radius, so we decided to go up into the head of the bay in the shallows, closer to the village. It wasn’t a great spot since it was more exposed, but it was OK since weather conditions weren’t too bad.
Our lush green anchorage near Naigoro pass at Kadavu
There was a concrete seawall (with all the steel reinforcements sticking out this way and that) at the head of the bay at the village, but you could only get to it around high tide, because the bay dries out at low tide, so we took advantage of our arrival timing and jumped in the dinghy shortly after anchoring to go do our sevusevu. Here, we didn’t quite get the reception we had gotten used to in the Lau group, in fact it was mostly business as they immediately wanted to know if we wanted to buy any fresh items. We did our sevusevu quickly, and then they brought in a few things. I almost jumped out of my seat with excitement, when I saw huge leafy greens, so after so blatantly showing my hand, I wasn’t much good at the bargaining table. I bought the taro leaves, but when they wanted $2 each for coconuts, I passed on that. I had gotten too used to just sending Alex to shore to climb a palm tree for us. Since the tide was dropping, we didn’t stay long, only long enough to get permission to snorkel in the pass and walk around the island.
So, the next day while Tim, Hans, and Brenden dove in the pass, I went for a walk with Katrein, Fien, and Seppe. We walked up the hill over to the other side of the island. Katrien was hoping to be able to get some internet in order to email her father, but I was just along in order to get off the boat for a while. It turned out to be quite a wonderful walk. There was a narrow trail the whole way with little makeshift single plank bridges over small ravines. The most amazing part of the walk was all the pine trees. It felt like we had been transported out of Fiji and out of the tropics, and it was beautiful. We made it all the way to the periphery of a village on the other side, but being Sunday, we didn’t venture in.
Our walk over the hill at Kadavu
There was a precious moment as we were walking back and Seppe had gone on up ahead of us. We passed a local man going the other way, and he said to us, “oh, you must be Seppe’s mom.” We spoke to him a minute or two and learned that he had had quite the conversation with Seppe about where he’s from and what they are doing and where they are going. Katrein was so pleased that Seppe was comfortable having that conversation on his own with this man. Out here, those of us with somewhat reserved children, we are watching them come out of their shell, and it is such a joy to watch.
Gresham Family Exodus 